IT was supposed to happen on the opening day of the season against Arsenal, but it didn't. It was meant to occur a week ago, when Newcastle travelled to Stoke, but again it didn't come to pass. And there were times during Saturday's game with Everton, with injuries mounting and the opposition threatening to overhaul a two-goal deficit, when the moment finally appeared near.

At some stage, Newcastle's unbeaten run will end and the inexorable momentum that briefly propelled them to second in the Premier League table at the weekend will be halted. For now, though, the madness continues.

And madness it surely is given the chaotic pre-season that led even most supporters to predict a season of strife. This was supposed to be a Newcastle side shorn of its most influential senior players, hamstrung by strict budgetary restraints, battling in an increasingly polarised Premier League that is far removed from the division that once allowed sides to gatecrash the top four at will.

Yet here we are heading to the middle of November, and the same Newcastle side has just rewritten the record books by equalling the club's longest-ever unbeaten run at the start of a top-flight season in the modern era.

Eleven matches - seven victories, four draws and no defeats. The run matches the sequence strung together by Kevin Keegan's 'Entertainers' at the start of the 1994-95 campaign.

Back then, the Magpies went on to finish sixth. There is still a reluctance to predict as high a finish this time around, but at some stage, the conservatism born of countless traumas and disappointments will surely have to be shelved.

Having confounded expectation at every turn in the opening three months of the season, why shouldn't Newcastle continue to prove the doubters wrong in the remainder of the campaign?

"I don't want to dampen expectations and dampen the mood," said manager Alan Pardew, who deserves immense credit for masterminding such a remarkable turnaround in mood. "I am not here for that.

"I want Newcastle fans to enjoy this and if they are dreaming of the Champions League, let them dream. It is fantastic and good luck to them.

"In the dressing room, we have to be a little bit more conservative about our approach. We are a new team, we have done terrific so far, and we now go into the next game."

That next game, of course, is at Manchester City, with matches against Manchester United and Chelsea to follow. Having only played one team from the current top six, things are about to get a whole lot more difficult.

But that should not diminish the results already recorded by a Newcastle side that continue to play to the peak of their powers. In the ten matches played against sides who were in the top-flight last season, the Magpies have either matched or improved on every one of their results from the 2010-11 campaign.

They have claimed an extra 18 points already, a statistic that surely renders any assertion that they 'haven't played anybody yet' redundant.

"We have been given some credit off a fair few people, but there are still a few doubters and we are aware of them," said Ryan Taylor, whose spectacular 29th-minute half-volley ultimately proved the decisive moment in Saturday's game. "We know there are people who keep saying we have not played anyone yet, but you can only beat who is in front of you and we have been doing that.

"The fixtures might have been kind when they came out, but you are playing against quality every week in the Premier League. We have played 11 games so we have played more than half the league. Okay, we haven't played the big four yet, but you can only beat the teams you are asked to play."

In many ways, Ryan Taylor is the perfect personification of everything Newcastle have achieved this season. He has performed much better than expected, largely through a combination of spirit, hard work and commitment. He has plugged a gap at left-back that looked all but impossible to fill. And he has done it with an honesty and humility that is increasingly winning admirers from far and wide.

He was excellent again on Saturday, shackling the attacking runs of Everton midfielder Seamus Coleman, surging forward whenever possible to deliver crosses and delving into his bag of attacking tricks to claim his third goal of the season.

Davide Santon, a £6m arrival from Inter Milan, was supposed to be Newcastle's flagship summer signing. Instead, thanks to the quality of Taylor's displays, he has been restricted to just a solitary Premier League substitute appearance.

"I hope I am starting to be known for more than just my goals now," he said. "I hope people look at me and see a player trying to establish himself in one position.

"I would like to be known as a left-back now. It is nice to try to shake off that 'Mr Versatile' tag. I have had it for a long time so if someone called me a left-back instead I would smile."

His weekend strike came at the end of a strong Newcastle start, and doubled the Magpies' lead after Everton defender Jonny Heitinga turned Danny Simpson's 12th-minute cross past his own goalkeeper.

It should have paved the way for a comfortable afternoon, but already deprived of the injured Cheik Tiote, Newcastle lost two more midfielders when Yohan Cabaye and Sylvain Marveaux succumbed to groin problems.

A lack of squad depth has always been regarded as a potential major problem, and when Jack Rodwell clawed a goal back with a powerful header on the stroke of half-time, a testing second half beckoned.

It might have become even more difficult had referee Andre Marriner spotted a possible handball when substitute Dan Gosling blocked Louis Saha's 54th-minute strike, but as it was, Newcastle's patched-up central unit coped reasonably successfully.

Danny Guthrie was superb for the second game running, and Gosling slotted in effectively against the side he left in controversial circumstances two summers ago.

Saha and Tim Cahill wasted late opportunities, but Newcastle held on to rewrite the record books.

"We were aware of the record and it was an extra incentive," said Ryan Taylor. "If you keep getting results, the history books will come out eventually. You don't really concentrate on that, but it's nice. When you look back in a few years, it'll be great to say you were part of history. Maybe then you can fully understand what you achieved."